happy halloween!

okay...


one last thing...

i loved halloween as a kid for the spookiness and the costumes and the autumn and the trick-r-treating and the candy...

but another thing i loved--and have thought about a lot this year--were the lead-up candies, the get-ready-halloweeen-is-comin' candies...

the wax candy...











but whatever happened to these...?

these were all the rage when i was a kid. kids would be whistlin' on these all up and down the block. like the wax lips and mustaches, they'd get full of spit and sometimes drip--but that was part of the joy!

i'd do anything for them to bring back the halloween wax whistle...

happy halloween everybody!
smell ya later!
todd

ps--sorry, matt--remember, i broke my camera at your house.
no pictures of the vampire cowboys... : (

beardslee manor

okay...

one last one from adam before we head out trick-or-treating...


Beardslee Manor & Castle
Little Falls, New York
By Shannon Reinbold-Gee
(from www.realhaunts.com)


Outside of Utica, in the town of Little Falls, New York, is Beardslee Manor. Now a beautifully restored restaurant, Beardslee Manor hosts weddings and receptions. But some visitors have found more attending their wedding parties than just their invited guests. Beardslee Manor has a reputation for being haunted, and once you understand its history, you may know why.

Beginning with a small, fortified homestead in the middle of the 1700s, the property where Beardslee Manor now rests was occupied by European settlers. Located deep in the heart of the Mohawk Valley, the quaint homestead became an important storage depot for the local militia’s munitions. Legend has it that one evening a band of Native Americans sneaked into the homestead to investigate and their torches touched off the gunpowder—blowing them straight into history. Perhaps their spirits continue to explore the region, watching for new interlopers…

Borrowing from traditional Irish castle designs, Augustus Beardslee created the building that became known as the “Beardslee Castle” in 1860. When the original family left the area, the property passed from owner to owner several times. One owner, “Pop” Christensen hanged himself after a long battle with a terminal illness.

But perhaps the Indian influence is not limited to the ghosts of those lost souls. One of the early owners of what was initially called “Beardslee Castle,” Guy Beardslee returned home from military service out west with several Sioux war bonnets, weapons and ceremonial artifacts. Items of this nature were revered by many of the Sioux, so it is possible unrest followed them and has remained even after the original building (with the artifacts inside) burned in the first fire (1919).

Beginning in the 1950s, travelers nearing the property claimed to see strangely colored lights rush towards their cars. Several accidents occurred, being blamed on blinding lights. Some accidents proved fatal. People have speculated that the strange floating lights are long-lost reflections from Beardslee’s lantern as he searched for a child who’d gone missing many years ago. A few other drivers reported seeing a mysterious and ghostly child walking along the side of the road. Regardless of what sights have been reported in the area, the final quarter-mile stretch of straight and clear road leading to the manor boasts more car accidents than are easily explained away.

People claim that weeds will not grow in the path leading to the old family mausoleum, though it is seldom tended. And in those same pine woods people have reported seeing more strange lights and hearing voices. Strange rainbows have appeared in photos here, disregarding the regular patterns of light.

Staff members complained of voices and singing emanating from the second floor until the area was closed off in 1984. Now footsteps are heard in the dining room after dinner service has ended and phantom keys jingle as if someone is readying to lock up. Voices have successfully been recorded in the Manor, and ghost hunter Norm Gauthier felt the Manor was haunted by at least two different spirits. Visitors have also claimed seeing a young woman in white, now nicknamed “Abigail,” who supposedly died the night before her wedding was to take place.

In 1989 the manor caught fire again, some people feeling that it was sparked by the spirits who felt disrespected by the ghost tales being told so often and investigators entering so frequently. In 1994 the property was again named “Beardslee Castle”, out of respect for the Beardslee family’s original designs and intentions.

Open to the public, Beardslee Castle is still a place to experience the richness of the past—even as it ghosts up to your car or dinner table.




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sometimes when you're thinking "well, i guess i've seen it all...", someone shows you something like this.
courtesy my dear, sweet sistah, suzanne--and cakewrecks.com--




yep.
it's a meatloaf baby.

with a bacon diaper.


i've eaten just about everything that anyone's put in front of me--
even the scrapple at the diner that morning--but i dunno if i could take a bite of this.,..


just creepy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~








have a happy--and scary--halloween, everybody!
be sure to take pictures--and send them in!
smell ya later!
todd

the chaplin time-traveler!

okay...

so rich woodall hit me with this on tuesday--and we discussed it at length--then i got it from warren, james, wendy, mike, katie, john, and kim. so...it's all the talk.

if you haven't heard about it, well, you should. here's the scoop...

CHAPLIN'S TIME-TRAVELER
(from soundonsight.org--http://www.soundonsight.org/time-traveler-found-in-charlie-chaplins-the-circus/)

George Clarke believes he has caught a time traveler in a piece of video footage found by him in Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 film The Circus.
Attending the premiere at Manns Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA – the scene shows a large woman /man dressed in black with a hat hiding most of his/her face, with what can only be described as a mobile phone device – talking as she walks alone.
Clarke added: I have studied this film for over a year now – showing it to over 100 people and at a film festival, yet no-one can give any explanation as to what she is doing.
My only theory – as well as many others – is simple… a time traveler on a mobile phone.





sharon's first question was how can you authenticate that? do they carbon date film? wendy brought up the question of cell-phone reception--who's her provider ('cause i'm switching!).


i have defended that this "lady" is, in reality (well, one of the realities anyway...) choopie atop the shoulders of two gremlins as he jaunts through time trying to cover his temporal tracks after a disastrous--and totally unauthorized--trip to the past. the huge shoes were needed so that the gremlins could build in the modging-gyros so that they could walk like that. warren answered the reception question by pointing the finger at the one guy around back then who might have (who are we kidding--probably did have) a cell-phone tower..."can you hear me now? hello? mr. tesla...?"

but that's just me.
what are YOUR thoughts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i got this series of gorgeously ghastly pumpkins the other day from my pal, terry!
now that's halloween!


Artist Ray Villafane began carving pumpkins on a lark for his art students in a small rural
school district in Michigan . The hobby changed his life as he gained a viral following online and
unlocked his genuine love of sculpting. Here are images of pumpkin carvings
Villafane created over the past five years.



















another spooky report from adam tomorrow!
so be sure to drop by!
smell ya later!
todd

more from adam--the otesaga hotel!

okay...

here's another great find from adam to get us all in the halloween spirit!


The Otesaga Hotel
(from www.paranormalstories/blogspot.com)

Posted by Andrea Allison on Wednesday, May 19, 2010

This Historic Grand Dame Resort was opened in 1909. A majestic, Federal-style structure with an imposing front portico supported by massive 30-foot columns, The Otesaga was designed by Architect Percy Griffin and was named for the Iroquois word for “ A Place of Meetings.” This magnificent hotel occupies 700 feet of lakefront on the southern shore of Lake Otsego (also known as the “Glimmerglass” lake of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales) in Cooperstown, New York. Avid golfers, vacationers and others have been drawn to the resort for its beautiful scenic surroundings, elegant accommodations, and enjoyable resort atmosphere since it first opened its doors. Some believe it has also drawn the attention of a few ghosts.

Guests have reported hearing children playing and/or giggling in the third floor hallway (From 1920 until 1954, the hotel was a private girl’s school known as the Knox School for Girls.). Voices have been heard in the Glimmerglass Room. Apparitions have been seen walking hand-in-hand in period clothing. Staff have heard their names being called from unseen sources. A security officer has heard people walking above him on the second and third floors. He says he also hears a music box between the second and third floors. Beds made on the 3rd floor are found messed up shortly after. Of all the experiences reported, nothing seems malevolent in any way. Just long time guests enjoying their stay at The Otesaga Resort Hotel.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

send in your pics of you and your perhapanauts shirts!
here's our latest model, my old pal, james de salvo, showing off his splendid choopie shirt!
(be sure to check out some of james' twisted tales and wicked writin's at
www.conniecobbler.com and
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Mary-Pennynickles-Tales-of-Torment-for-Toddlers/162642690426622 )





so, didja get your costume yet? whaddaya gonna be?
didja carve a pumpkin? got pics?
is this thing on...?
smell ya later!
todd

the albany comic con report and ghost-hunting with james!

okay...

now that i finally have a small chance to breath here, i wanted to report on the two very cool things i was fortunate enough to be involved in this past weekend!
first and foremost, the albany comic con, which not only embodies the same love and celebration of comics as do heroescon in charlotte and the baltimore comiccon, but, for a small, still-getting-started, one-day show, continues to evolve around us, bringing back many familiar faces and drawing in new fans and friends each time! BIG thanks to con organizer john belskis for the patient and caring way he is growing this show and all the time and work he puts into it twice a year! yup, that's right! twice a year! so if you're thinking about making the trip for a show that still cares about comics, mark it on your calendars now for next spring!

i'd show pictures, but as i said, dropped my camera at matt's and haven't had a chance to go out and buy a new one...maybe this weekend...)

the continuation of all that fun on sunday was that sharon and tyler and i were invited to go on a ghost-hunt in nearby troy ny at an abandoned cemetery that touts a rep for being one of the hauntiest in the northeast. i say invited, but i feel like i kinda twisted my friend james (best)'s arm when he and luis (acevedo) and i were talking about this at the bar down in baltimore. james had heard about it and had been and, though i think it was an act, luis was claiming a scooby-doo-like reluctance to go.

it's been said to have a definite malevolent aura about it, that visitors experience an oppressive feeling of despair and woe, a certain surreal quality that makes you want to run out screaming...or stay forever.
it's been labelled one of the 7 earthly gates to hell.

we were joined by our other friend, tom stevens, and the six of us parked our cars well away from the posted private property signs and crept through the woods in the misty darkness toward the entrance to the rural cemetery. james, tyler, and i carried flashlights but were spare in using them as we didn't want anyone to see the lights bobbing eerily through the woods. the moon, dulled with a veil of fog, lent some light, but we were still startled when james turned his flashlight on to show us the dilapidated mausoleum that was suddenly looming before us.

it's huge--here's a photo of it in the daytime, but with nothing nearby to show scale. those arches are about 16 feet high each...





we navigated around it in the dark and now we were on the path that winds up the hill, small areas of plots here and there on either side make up the cemetery. stones dating back to the early 1800s were in understandable disrepair and some had fallen over. walking along this lane we would see, on either side, white and grey headstones and markers jutting up out of the underbrush, forgotten and forlorn. there were woods all around us.

heading farther up the trail, to the top of the hill, james directed us to the two more famous memorials in the cemetery, both of them majestic in their day, now sad testimonials to either time or vandals. the first is the angel statue, which must have been glorious in it's time, now headless and...creepy. we all stood in silence, the three flashlight beams playing over it. maybe about 7 or 8 yards beyond this, we could see another large monument brooding in the dark; a second memorial that was also headless.
later we said that we each felt a feeling of loss and sadness.

farther down the trail were more headstones, some large, some smaller, family groups and plots and an errant lonely stone here and there. the most recent i think we found was actually 1997--but aside from that one the stones seemed to tell of the cemetery being used very sparingly from around 1820 until 1953.





on the way out of the cemetery we spooked a small herd of deer that darted between the trees ahead of us and gave us a start. other than that, we saw no ghosts, felt no presences, and didn't even have any instances of letting our imaginations get away from us. it was spooky and creepy and, initially going in, it was thrilling. everyone was nervous--which was fun.
thanks for the great hunting trip, james!
it was great and we'll all never forget it.

i gotta go get some work done!
more from our pal, adam hutchinson tomorrow--so stop by!
and make sure you check out his offering from yesterday!
smell ya later!
todd

cooperstown ghost

okay...

i'll report more on the convention--and our intrepid ghost-hunting expedition--tomorrow, but for now, i'm turning things over to our pal, adam hutchinson, who was kind enough to hunt down not one, but three, spooky tales for our halloween blogs!
i saw adam at the show the other day--he swung by for a uncustomarily brief visit with our other pal, mike gagnon, as they each had a small human in tow (very cute--one pint-sized captain america, one lovely little supergirl!) i mentioned to adam that i could use another story to fill out the week and he went home and hit me with these right away.

so, here's the first, culled from www.cooperstownghost.com


The Christ Episcopal Church Graveyard

No account of haunted happenings in a small town would be complete without the inclusion of the local cemetery. At the corner of Church and River streets lies the Christ Episcopal Church cemetery, which houses the remains of many of the famous members of the acclaimed Cooper and Pomeroy families. The historic burial site includes tombs for the two most famed members of the Cooper family—legendary American author James Fenimore Cooper and town founder William Cooper. One of the saddest elements of the graveyard is the presence of a cluster of smaller gravestones; they indicate the burial plots of the Pomeroy children, many of whom who died at young ages. There is also a sinister element to the graveyard. The cemetery features a headstone for the infamous Ann Low Cary Cooper Clarke, who once placed a curse on nearby Hyde Hall.

According to a ghostly story associated with the graveyard, one of the men in the Cooper clan found an eerie way to interact with a 20th century resident of Cooperstown. The incident occurred in the late 1980s, when a young girl and her friends paid a social visit to the Christ Church cemetery. One of the girl’s friends, showing a lack of respect for the sacred nature of the burial ground, decided to lean up against one of the gravestones. Sure enough, the aging, loosened gravestone toppled over, falling directly on top of one of the girl’s legs.

Given the weight of the gravestone, her friends were unable to lift it from her leg and quickly ran to seek help. With extra manpower successfully found, the group finally succeeded in extricating the stone and enabling the girl to sit up. Relieved that the weight had been lifted, the girl took notice of the epitaph etched into the stone. The name featured on the stone was that of a Cooper family member, the oddly named Marmaduke Cooper. The girl then took note of the birth date engraved on the stone. The date startled the girl. It was not only Marmaduke Cooper’s birth date, but hers as well! Was this a case of ghostly intervention or merely an eerie coincidence? Either way, the episode left the girl more than a little chilled.

The strange incident took place in a section of the graveyard that is regarded as the focal point of the Christ Church cemetery. In fact, a metal banister sets the Cooper-Pomeroy tract of the graveyard apart from the rest of the cemetery; all of the graves and above-ground tombs in this parcel belong to members of the two families, with one notable and strange exception.

The deviation in graveyard rules came about, at least indirectly, because of the virtuous life lived by Hannah Cooper. One of the daughters of Judge William Cooper, Hannah was a beloved member of the Cooperstown community. The young Hannah earned a reputation as so innocent and wholesome that she became favored by all generations of Cooperstown’s social hierarchy. Tragically, Hannah did not survive past her early twenties. In 1800, she suffered a severe fall while riding on horseback; the injuries resulted in her death at the age of 23.

Hannah’s many admirers included Richard Cary, a colonel in the United States Army who once served as an aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Despite the difference in their ages, the older Cary became a close friend to Hannah. Several years after her death, Cary himself became seriously ill. On his deathbed, Cary made a special request of the Cooper family. He asked that his burial plot be included in the partitioned segment of the Christ Church graveyard, right next to the tomb that housed Hannah’s remains. A religious man with feelings of guilt, Cary had a very specific reason for the request. By being buried next to someone as pure and exemplary as Hannah, Colonel Cary believed that he could literally ride her spirit’s skirt tails into heaven. "She was the best woman I ever knew," said Cary, according to James Fenimore Cooper’s grandson in his book, Legends and Traditions of a Northern County, "and my only chance of getting into heaven is on her skirts." So impressed by the sincerity of the request and his respect for Hannah, the Cooper family decided to make an exception for a non-family member. They allowed Cary to be buried directly to the right of Hannah, presumably (or at least hopefully) facilitating his entrance into heaven.

Other members of the Cooperstown community were not afforded the same privilege as Colonel Cary. The vast majority of Cooperstown citizens, even those respected as doctors or community leaders, were not permitted inclusion in the specially enclosed section of the cemetery, unless they were born or married into the Cooper and Pomeroy clans. In addition, no black members of local society, whether free or slave, could be included in the preferred burial location. African Americans who had lived in Cooperstown were relegated to the less desirable parcel of ground located in the southeast corner of the graveyard, along with the other "commoners" who once resided in the village.

The exclusion of African Americans from the Cooper-Pomeroy burial lot may account for the ghostly tradition of the Christ Church graveyard. According to the legend, those who find themselves in the graveyard at the midnight hour will encounter the ghosts of one or more of the Cooper family slaves. It may just be that the spirits of the slaves, rejected in death as they were during their human lives by the color of their skin and their lack of social stature, continue to look for a rightful place to call their home in the afterlife.


christ church



cooperstown village



thanks, adam! that was great!
more tomorrow!
smell ya later!
todd

dover lights...and rich's brother...!

okay...

had a FANTASTIC time at the albany comic con yesterday; saw LOTS of friends, sold LOTS of haps shirts and squaddie comics...and we even went and did a little late night ghost-hunting...
but i'll hafta tell you all about that on wednesday...

i don't know what i'd've done without rich this year. mr. woodall came through with more great fodder for our halloween blogs than i could've imagined, with the 10 creepy paranormal mysteries you've never heard of and the story about the isle of madness--! great stuff, rich--and, again, thanks!
but i saved the best for last--and he wasn't even trying on this one...just telling me a story of his own.

it came about as we were 'talking' (emailing) about the dover lights, a strange eerie phenomena experienced by the folks down around dover, arkansas.
here's a little backstory on alla that...


Location: Dover, Arkansas

Located about 17 miles outside Dover, Arkansas, the "Dover Lights" can be viewed on almost a nightly basis. Just off of Highway 7, down a lonely, dark stretch of a dirt road, is a scenic area where the lights can be seen from. During the day, this is a beautiful sight, a scene of a green Arkansas valley, still untouched by man. At the base of the valley lays a waterway known as "Long Pool" which is popular for canoeing and fishing. On the other side of Long Pool, is the mountainous area where the lights are seen during the dark hours of the night. At night, the area is very dark with no source of man-made light. It begins to emit a more eerie feeling as darkness falls in and the only light is the moon itself. It is often said that the lights would respond to other sources of light and to sounds.
The "Dover Lights," an unexplained phenomena that appears, flickers and sways in various colors. Some say they are the ghosts of Spanish Conquistadors searching for their lost gold in the Ozark foothills.





so rich sent me this thread of people chatting about the lights...

...and then continued with this story about his brother.
very conversational. and i don't think rich realized how scary this story was while he was writing it.


So... last thing today... http://www.strangeusa.com/ViewLocation.aspx?locationid=1612

I used to live in Clarksville, which is like 20-30 min away, my Dad lived in Dover, I know all the places mentioned in this (read the replies). I never saw the Dover lights myself, cause I've never been up there, but my Brother who went to high school there, and lived around there in his 20s said he's seen the Dover lights... he also has a similar story to one of the guys that commented... he said that he and his buddies used to go up there and just hang out, watch the lights (which I guess are a pretty regular thing)... anyway, he's up there w/ his buddies on the hoods of their truck looking up at the stars. So, he's leaned back, ya know, they're on almost a cliff... there's a wall, and then a steep drop down into the woods... so he can't really see the wall or anything... anyway, he says for some reason he looks forward toward the wall, and he sees this huge shadow kinda watching them... said it's the scariest thing he's ever seen... said it didn't move until it saw that he saw it, then it jumped off the wall strait down the cliff into the woods. He said he's never moved faster! The guys he was with heard the thing smashing down the cliff into the woods, and they jumped... by the time they realized what was going on, my brother says he was already in the truck and had it started. He said he was going in reverse before the last guy could fully get into the truck. He said they tore down the mountain fast and ended up getting a flat tire half way down... said they wouldn't get out of the truck to change the tire they were so scared. He said a cop ended up showing up at 3am and gave them a ride home.

Now just to put that in perspective, when he told me this, I got scared... cause my brother isn't one to scare easily. He's 6'2" was working as a mechanic at the time, so he's built, from moving engines and shit like that around... he's worked as a lobsterman for the last 7 years and has been in prison a couple times. The only thing he's ever been scared of is our Dad, ya know. When he was telling me this story, he was almost white. you could see he was still freaked out.

He says he doesn't know what it was watching them, but the closest thing he could think of was Bigfoot... he said "I don't know if it was a Bigfoot... or a giant man, or what the hell it was, but it was huge... like really big, because it was standing on the wall, and it was just towering over us... and the noise it made going down the mountain... man, I just don't know what the hell it was."



awesome!
great stories, all, rich!
thanks!

once again, i gotta fly outta here!
see ya wednesday with some more about the con...and after the con...
smell ya later!
todd

running out the door~

okay...

running out the door to go do some actual work today.
here are a buncha jpgs that've been floating around my desktop.

more spooky stories on monday!
countdown to halloween!
come see us at the ALBANY COMIC CON this SUNDAY!


















see ya in albany!
have a great weekend!
smell ya later~!
todd

ALBANY COMIC CON--This Sunday!

okay...

first off, thanks to all of you who have been buying up the perhapanauts shirts! they are destined to be the next big thing and we thank you all for getting the ball rolling! as i said the other day, send in your pics of you--or someone you know--modeling your cool new big, choopie, or molly shirts so we can post 'em here on the blog!
here's our good pal--and long-time tellos friend too!--john "figaro" norris stylin' in his new bigfoot t~! (photo by his lovely wife, michelle)




thanks, fig!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

next...

HEY! DON"T MISS THE ALBANY COMIC CON This SUNDAY at the HOLIDAY INN On WOLF ROAD!!!




if you're gonna be in the area, stop by and say hi! i'll be there with all the cool new perhapanauts shwag and piles of super hero squads! also, i think i'm doing a panel or something! then, my friend, james and i are gonna drag luis out to go ghosthunting...yeah, that's what i said, luis! : )


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my lovely and talented casper partner sent this over the other day and i just hadda share it!
funny.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to keep the paranormal party going, here are a couple of spooky stories gathered from this month's offerings of your true tales over at paranormal@about.com! there are a ton more--go on over and check 'em out!


Creepy Baby Monitor Warning
BY MORALES
By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide


My baby, our second child, was about 5 or 6 months old in the early summertime, maybe in late April or May. I remember it was quite warm out but not hot like it is in June. We lived in a duplex rental with three bedrooms and one bathroom. The master bedroom was at the end of the hall and this is where the baby was sleeping.

It was around 9:00 p.m. and my oldest daughter, 5 at the time, was asleep on the couch. My husband and I were playing an X-box game. We had a baby monitor to listen to the baby as she slept. The baby had been asleep for about an hour when the the monitor started picking up static. It was not constant static, but in and out a little, not bad enough to pay attention to.

I had gone to the bathroom, and when I came out into the hallway it was very cold. I said something about it to my husband who was in the living room, but he said he was hot. I checked on the baby and covered her up with a blanket, then went back to the living room. Sure enough, it was pretty warm in there.

A little while later, the baby monitor picked up static again, but this time it didn't go away; it stayed staticky for quite a while. I was reaching over to turn the volume down and as I looked at it, the lights all lit up (they normally do light up when noise is transmitted) and then it went silent.

My husband and I just stared at it for a moment, then a voice came through the monitor -- a low, husky voice that gave us both chills. It said, "Get her." We both ran down the hall and into the bedroom where the baby was. Just as we went into the room the baby's blanket literally flew off her like someone pulled it off. My husband grabbed the baby and we ran out of the room. Inside, the whole house was so cold we could see our breath. I got our oldest daughter and we ran out and got in the car and spent the night at my mom-in-law's house.


Strange Spooky Visions
BY SUSAN J.
By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide

This took place about six years ago, September, 2004, near London, Ontario, Canada. My two dogs and I were in the living room watching TV. I was on the couch and the dogs by my feet. All of a sudden, my dogs started barking.

They got up and stood at the edge of the carpet, barking while looking toward the kitchen. It spooked me because I was the only one in the house. I looked toward the kitchen; just at that time I saw what looked like black smoke. It quickly moved down stairs toward the basement. After that happened, my dogs were quiet. I sat on the couch shaking, not wanting to believe what I just saw.

Another incident happened two years before that in February, 2002. From the back laundry room, there is a very big window. My uncle's house can clearly be seen. He has a patio window that faces my house.

I was doing laundry and just happened to look outside toward my uncle's house. I saw what looked like a little girl standing in front of the patio window. I thought my cousin from The States was visiting. The next day, I walked over to my uncle's to ask him if my cousin was visiting.

I told him I saw a little girl wearing a black dress with white sleeves. He looked at me strangely and said, "Your cousin Michelle was not here." I then asked who was here then wearing those clothes. He said, "There was no one here yesterday." I became spooked again!




see ya friday!
smell ya later~!
todd

island of madness

okay...

here's another creepy story that rich found (a great researcher is that rich...) at awesome mysteries you haven't heard of...

http://www.slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/awesomemysteries/islandofmadness.htm


The Island of Madness

Poveglia Island is one of many island in the lagoons of Venice, Italy but instead of being a place of beauty, the island is a festering blemish in the shimmering sea and is not only regarded as one of the most haunted locations on the planet, but also one of the most evil places in the world. Today no one visits save to harvest the vineyards. Fishermen even steer clear of the island for fear that they will catch human bones in their nets.

The dark history of Poveglia Island began during the Roman Era when it was used to isolate plague victims from the general population. Centuries later, when the Black Death rolled through Europe it served that purpose again. The dead were dumped into large pits and buried or burned. As the plague tightened its grip, the population began to panic and those residents showing the slightest sign of sickness were taken from their homes and to the island of Poveglia kicking and screaming and pleading. They were thrown onto piles of rotting corpses and set ablaze. Men, women, children... all left to die in agony. It's estimated that the tiny island saw as many as 160,000 bodies during this time.

The island has become a putrid area indeed. The soil of the island combined with the charred remains of the bodies dumped there creating a thick layer of sticky ash. The core of the island is literally human remains that has given the island a loathsome reputation, but appears to be very good for the grapevines that are planted there. Think about that next time you partake of Italian wine!

As if the story was not disturbing enough, it gets worse. In 1922 the island became home to a psychiatric hospital complete with a large and very impressive bell tower. The patients of this hospital immediately began to report that they would see ghosts of plague victims on the island and that they would be kept up at night hearing the tortured wails of the suffering spirits. Because they were already considered mad by the hospital staff, these complaints were largely ignored.

To add to the anguish of the poor souls populating this island hospital, one doctor there decided to make a name for himself by experimenting on his subjects all to find a cure for insanity. Lobotomies were performed on his pitiable patients using crude tools like hand drills, chisels, and hammers. Those patients and even the ones who were not privy to the doctor's special attentions were taken to the bell tower where they were tortured and subjected to a number of inhumane horrors.

According to the lore, after many years of performing these immoral acts, the evil doctor began to see the tortured plague ridden spirits of Poveglia Island himself. It is said that they led him to the bell tower where he jumped (or was thrown) to the grounds below. The fall did not kill him according to a nurse who witnessed the event, but she related that as he lay on the ground writhing in pain, a mist came up out of the ground and choked him to death. It's rumored that the doctor is bricked up in the hospital bell tower and on a still night, the bell can be heard tolling across the bay. The hospital closed down.





For a time, the Italian government owned the island, but it was later sold. That owner abandoned it in the 1960's and was the last person to try and live there. A family recently sought to buy the island and build a holiday home on it but they left the first night there and refused to comment on what happened. The only fact that we do know is that their daughters face was ripped open and required fourteen stitches.

Today Poveglia is uninhabited and tourism to island is strictly forbidden. Every now and then the lapping waves on the shore uncover charred human bones.

Several psychics have visited the island the abandoned hospital, but all of them left scared to death of what they had sensed there. Every now and then daredevils dodge the police patrols to explore the island, but everyone who has made it there have refused to return saying that there is a heavy atmosphere of evil and they the screams and tortured moans that permeate the island make staying there unbearable.

One report from a misguided thrill seeker who fled the island says that after entering the abandoned hospital, a disembodied voice ordered them, "Leave immediately and do not return."

They never did.

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on the perhapanauts front; here's that very same rich woodall modeling his very cool new perhapanauts t for us and a couple of shots of craig's very cute, but toothless offspring displaying their fine new threads as well!











if YOU were one of the lucky few who got their orders in early and already have your hot-off-the-presses awesome perhapanauts t, send us a picture of you showing it off! it doesn't have to be a funny or sexy photo shoot--though we'll take those too!--just get a shot of you in your shirt! play with the camera, make funny faces, pick a cool location--it's all good!
send 'em in to me at todd@perhapanauts.com

thanks!
havea good monday!
smell ya later!
todd